Initial testing took place on asphalt and gravel roads in France last month with further running planned for the UK during December. Once the homologation process has been completed in the summer, the roll-out to customers is expected to begin.

Development of the Polo GTI R5 has been conducted since the beginning of this year, with initial tests on gravel and asphalt conducted in Fontjoncouse, France in November. Testing will continue in Great Britain this month, led by technical director François-Xavier Demaison and Jan de Jongh, who was race engineer for Sébastien Ogier’s Polo R WRC.

VW Motorsport has started developing the car since the start of the year, with the first test drives also planned for 2017. The Polo GTI R5 will have its first race outing next year.

Volkswagen states the four-door body and the steel chassis that underpins the rally car will be manufactured at the company’s plant in Pamplona, Spain. The role cage and the other safety components that will be offered on the GTI R5 comply with the FIA regulations. The Polo GTI R5 will be homologated in the summer of 2018 and the first deliveries to the customer sports teams are scheduled to take place in the second half to 2018.

The vehicle which brought Jean-Karl Vernay the 2017 TCR International Series title, the Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR, will get a face-lift for the 2018 season with a re-working of the front-end bringing th...

As well as its road version, which should be launched at the end of the year, the Polo GTI R5 will be powered by a four-cylinder direct injection engine that will offer 270 hp. The rally version will ...

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All the ingredients of a real Volkswagen GTI are on the Up! present. For the mentioned amount there is a 115 hp strong 1 liter 3 cylinder turbo in the front. This engine delivers the same power as the...

Even though it won’t be competing in top-flight WRC competition, Volkswagen has used its best motorsport people to develop the car. Technical director, Francois-Xavier Demaison, was responsible for Se...

Despite a similar capacity to the cars of the WRC, the power will be significantly lower to settle at about 300 hp. Side look however, the Polo GTI R5 will be all great: the sketch released by Volkswa...

We thus discover several sketches, quite contemporary, taking again the codes of the successful creation of Gérard Welter, the 205. More muscular, more sculpted, the silhouette of this "new 205 GTI" i...